Tuesday, June 2, 2015

Lords Cove

The cold air and light rain tell one that it is windier than it really is...the additive of mild unpleasantries. The breeze is out of the NE and it chills the back of my wet hands, the rest of me clad in my array of cold weather clothing, but it seems that wind doesn't slow the canoe one bit and the cattails sweep by with good speed.

Entering the cove, I went up the outside of Goose Island for a change...in the main channel of the river. I saw but one small fishing boat during that half mile. Rain and cold, it's a day when most people turn their backs to nature, although nature never forgets them, or lets them out of its sight.

This is special weather for me, weather that I don't get as often as I did when I was on the Pacific side of the country. The rain throws a heavy blanket over the marsh. It becomes a little more wild and a bit more isolated. The rain adds 5 miles to the space between me and there...and it keeps the camera cased. It is very good weather to canoe in.

Wrens are building nests at full bore. I am rarely out of sight of one as I paddle through the inner channels of the marsh. Most of them are working away and their calls come from the interior without being able to see them. But now and again, one will be high on a reed or cattail, singing away. I suppose these few think that they have built enough nests (the males build up to 15 or so) to attract a mate.

I am glad that I have brought a thermos of coffee.

I passed four pair of non-breeding swans. They are mellow compared to those with a nest and they just keep a safe distance from me. With the tide nearing high, I passed on the shallow inside of some small rock islands on the way out. Not seeing it as I rounded one of the islands, I came far too close to a nesting swan. I turned the canoe away and the mate was satisfied to give me the evil eye and let me pass without the aggressive threat/charge/bluff that I have become familiar with.

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The Who, What, and Why

The first 300+ entries in this blog were from the Seattle area on the west coast of North America. Starting with October 5, 2012, my blog (and myself for that matter) has moved to Connecticut on the east coast. I have a lot to learn about my new home. I paddle solo most of the time, but I do take others on many trips. Photographs are shot from the canoe on the day of the trip. The writing is done by pencil and paper in the canoe.

I am an interdisciplinary artist creating content-driven and concept-driven artwork in a diverse selection of materials and themes with a very strong recent emphasis on nature and ecology. I was the Rubicon Foundation/Smoke Farm Artist in Residence for 2011-2012. I now live in Connecticut.